HINTS TO SMALL FARMERS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 901, 25 July 1879, Page 3

HINTS TO SMALL FARMERS.

(From the New Zealand Country Journal.) A country not over-burdened with population, having good soil:uni a gonial climate ; a country where a person taking up land can, with a moderate capital and a fair amount of industry, raise sufficient to cat and wear, pay his way and have a little surplus cash—that is the country that may ho pitched upon as a future home, Now while agriculturists claim for their vocation a primary place in the long list of industries while it is a healthy and not disagreeable occupation, it is not one which will readily make a person wealthy in the usual sense of the word ;a living may ho made, hut not ,a fortune. A farmer may have abundance of the good things of this life—it will be his own fault if ho has not—but ho may not have any large amount of money to his credit in the bank. Once ho has got a fair start, and adopted a proper system of farming operations, he may congratulate himself on the position, and find himself making steady and safe progress. But he must not start out with the idea that fanning is about to do wonders .for him, or else he may find himself disappointed.

The agricultural statistics 1 ,,'0f New Zea-j s: land for 1877 disclose the fact that there tl were at the time 18,750 persons who had a holdings of land, upwards of 12,000 of these ' n holdings being freehold. Auckland appears i t to have the largest amount of freeholders, v the numbers being 3-150; Canterbury comes s next with 2700 ; Otago has 2075 ; Welling, t ton, 1473 ; while all the other provincial v districts number less than 1000 each. o Mauv parts of this colony arc eminently i; adapted to that numerous class of holders 1. of land known as small farmers—that is, i those wh so farms range from 50 to 100 s acres. Farmers of this description have f been encouraged to come out to this conn- I try ; special settlements have been organised t for their particular benefit. Now, a good y ileal of the prosperity of the colony must a depend, not in having a lot of niuholders r who are in possesion of immense tracts of ' land, hut in having a population consisting f mainly nf agriculturists who cun work their c own farms, aud who are bringing up their sons and daughters in the practice of industry, economy, and intelligence. Every province basils small fanners; it is very desirable that they should he prosperous and i contented. They should by every possible ■ means, be encouraged in their farming opera- i tions. , The method nf farming to he pursued by < this cbiss of husbandmen must lie ve>v , different from that carried on in very ex- i tensive holdin- s. If wo take Adelaide, for ] instance, many of the colonists there turn i their whole attention ro growing wheat ; ■ and although the average yield per acre is f only from live to fifteen bushels, it seems to f pay. But the expenses of getting in and i reaping the crop are merelv nominal, rc- , duced by the employment of machinery to a j minimum cost. Ploughing very shallow, i and leaving the grain until thoroughly ripe, , they have machines that reap and thresh ■ the wheat by a simple process. In California, too, grain is grown in a somewhat similar way. Fields of wheat consisting of 2000 to 5000 acres are not uncommon in some parts of that State- As a matter of course the method of cultivation in these countries year after year tends to a depreciation in the character of the land. Thousands of acres will not now produce a payable crop, althrough the cost of cultivation is so tilling. Other settlers, both in Australia and the southern parts of the Colony,go in largely for sheep, and some of them make fortunes out of the wool ami I mutton. So that owners of extensive farms can, if they choose, confine themselves to one thing—it may bo grain, sheep aud cattle. DIVERSITY IN’ KADJIIXO Now, the small farmer must not attempt to follow the example of those who can boast of their large farms, and who often ■ indulge in “ pride of proprietorship.” Ho i must not confine himself toon" thing. Ho ! | will find it greatly to his interest to have | i variety. He urns':, so far as practicable, . j carry on a system of diversified farming ; so i , | that if one thing is a failure other things j I may keep him ou his feet. It is not often j ; 1 that cv'ry kin 1 of farm produce is a glut in I | the mai ket. Putter may he low in price, | | but wool may command a good figure. | . Potato, s may be hardily worth sending i . away from the farm, but grass seed mav be i scarce and high in value. When 1 apeak of ; diversity in farming, I do not allude so , much to a system of rotation nf crops in different pad,docks, which oil good fanners s ought to adopt; I rather mean that, where practicable, and wh ro their holdings are . large enough, settlers should have a mix'ore , of dairy farming, sheep farming, cropping, t and fruit growing. -\ good deal must of , course depend on circumstances, upon soil . and location, and upon the amount of labor . that is at command. But, writing for iho , benefit of small fanners, 1 say they should, . as a rule, go in Tor a diversified system of 1 opciatiuns. Agricultural authorities ail agree that a mixed system of husbandry is j the thing that ought to he generally adop- <■ ted. Even for squatters with extensive , runs it has been recommended. A writer in , an Australasian paper says:—“By mlopt- , ing such a plan, the squatters would have a t hettt i- chance of keoivng their stock in s health, for they could use a condiment with if the hay, thereby affording a change of food, for tlioir stock—they would have more wool, . and a better quantity of it, for when shc»p . arc letdown tin low hi condition the avoid r cannot bo so good ; they’ will improve the qualify of their pasturage, and the quantity f of stock could lie increased, bocauso, if they ,f do not adopt this plan, they must reduce their stock materially', and in good seasons the grass that is not consumed withers, with the sun and drying winds, to that degree that the laud g-ts no benefit of it ; but when it is put through the stock by' the aoove process, it is converted into good manure. The pastures could then ho kept from getting too bare and exposing them to the loss of the best grasses ; the extra manuring, too, would encourage the best ) sorts of grasses, for it has always been found l " top dressing brings back the best qualities > of the grasses.